Hydraulic clutch.



M. A. KETLER. HYDRAULIC CLUTCH. APPucATloN man fEs.:19l. 1913. RENEwEDFE'sJ-rs. 1916.

'Zaurus-s115211.

I M511. 11111511.7111 f HYDRAULIC CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I9, 1913- RENEWED EEB. I8, |916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2v* I @WIA-M I JMAE "V A W MKM-L MILTON KETTLER, OFWASHINGTON, DISTRCT DF'COLUMBB..

HYDRAULIC CLUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lune 13, i911@ Application led February 19, 1913, Serial No.749,525. lRenewed February 18, 1916. 'Serial No. 79,2%.

10 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, MILTON A. KETTLER, acitizen of the United States, residing at lVashington, in the Districtof Columbia, have invented' certain new and useful lmprovements inHydraulic Clutches; and do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such' as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to hydraulic clutches, and has for its object toproduce a transmission gearing, which will be simple in construction,comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and one which will be moreefficient in action than those of like nature which have been heretoforeproposed.

To these ends, the invention consists in the 'novel details ofconstruction and combination of parts, more fully hereinafter disclosedand particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all theviews;lf`igure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of ar clutch made inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a portionof the parts shown in Fig. l and illustrating the gearing connecting thecontrolling parts of thc clutch; Fig. 3 is an enlarged transversesectional view of a portion of the parts shown in Fig. 1 andillustrating the particular improvements constituting my invention; Fig.4 is an end elevational view partly in section of-the clutch, andshowing in full lines the operating parts illustrated by dotted lines inFig. 3; and, lfig. 5 is a diagrammatic transverse sectional view of aslightly modified form of my invention.

rlhis invention constitutes an improvement over the constructiondisclosed in U. S. Patent if: 879,045, dated Feb. 11. 19GB, to W. WV.Henderson, and entitled Fluid clutch. rllhe general construction of thepower transmitting parts is substantially the same as in said patent,and therefore, need not be described with particularity herein, However,it is said:-1 indicates a driven shaft on which is mounted the pinion .2meshing with the pinion 3, provided with the gear #t and with the pinion5, best shown in Fig. l. 'llhc gear 4c meshes with the gear 6 mounted onthe short shaft 10, and the said gear 6 in 55 turn meshes with the gear7, rigid with the pinions 8 and 9.

Through the parts just mentioned, as well as lothers which arenotillustrated, but winch are fully disclosed in the said patent above,power is transmitted from the driving shaft l2 to the driven shaft 1.The said shaft l also has mounted thereon theisleeve 13 carrying thecasing member 14 inclosing the gears fl and 7, and the said shaft 1 is65 also surrounded by the sleeve 1G provided with the drum-like casing17, which in turn incloses the casing member lll, as will be clear fromthe drawings.

ln addition to the members 14 and 17, 70 I just described, the sleeve 18likewise' surrounding the shaft 1, carries the rotating drum member 19which in turn incloses the members 14 and 17.

Rigid with the driving shaft 12 is the 75 plate, or casing member 20,having the outer chamber member 21 and the back plate member 22 rigidtherewith.

The parts so far mentioned, are, or may be, duplicates of thecorresponding parts so disclosed in the patent above, and from said'vpatent, it will now be clear that if power is applied to the shaft 12,the casing members 20, 21 and will rotate around the drum- -lilremembers 19, 11i and 17, and the plane- 85 tary gears er, (l, etc., willcause powerto be transmitted to the shaft l.

rlhe said patent above, likewise discloses the following parts:ME/Limited in the plate 30 located inside the casing members 20, Q1 9oand and enacting with the drum 19, are.- the rotating abutments 25havingfr projections 26 on which are mounted pirrions 27, meshing withthe pinions Q9, which in turn mesh with the central gear Q8 carried be-95 ,tween the said plate 30 and the casing member 20. ln other words, asthe shaft 12 rotates and carries with it the parts men tioned above, thesaid central gear 28 will cause the abutments 25 to rotate through 1o()their pinions 27 in synchronism with said shaft, all as is likewisedisclosed in said patent above. The said outer rotating casing members2.0, 21 and inclose betweenA themselves and the inner rotating drummember it) and. plate 30, the annular duid channel 35i, and the saidrotating abutments 25 are adapted to block said channel except at statedintervals, all as will be likewise clear rom Fig. 3, and from said.patent above. The said rotating casing member 21 likewise is providedwith by-pass channels 34 controlled by the valves or cocks 35, as insaid patent above, and it will now be further understood? from saidpatent, that the plate 30 andrdrum 19 constitute an inner rotating drummember or system, tofwhich power is applied from theouter casing members20,

-' 21 and 22, for that as the driving casing 21 revolves around theVinner driven drum memfbers 19 and 30, fluid confined in the channel 33will be compressed between a. member carried by the casing 21" and oneor more of the' rotating abutments 25, and power will thereupon betransmitted from the saidv casing 21 through the rotating abutments 25to y the drum members 30 an 4'19, and through the planetary gearing tohe sha-ift 1, all in the manner more fully :disclosed in said patentabove, z

No novelty is claimed herein for any of the parts per se so tarmentioned,

Theispecial improvement constituting this invention will be readilyyunderstood from the ollowingz-In this invention, l mount vreciprocatingvalve like members fl() in the casing .2l and connect the same by meansot' the links all and il2 to the` pivots 43, which are rrigid with thelevers :kal connected by the links to .the blell crank arms 46 piv-loted as at 47, and rigid with the arm 48, connected as at 49 tof theoperating connections 50, carried by the sliding sleeve 5l. surroundingthe sleeve 1S. ln the said patent above, insteadl of the sliding member40, there vas provided a member lettered 29 in said patent, which jni'jected entirely across the fluid channel, and which did not permit.of, itsfbeing removed trombi' brought into said channel, so that it hadthe disadvan-- tage of always driving Huid or oil ini'front of thesaine, and thereby, imparting a greater or less churning action to thesaid fluid. This said churning`action inevitably resulted in a greateror less, heating effect, and is objectionable from pther reasons. lthas, however, been proposed to overcome this objection by pivotallymounting the member 29, shown rin said patent, so that it might beturned on its pivot and entirely removed from the channel lettered 33 inthis invention.' lVhereas such an "ii'nprovements serves to overcome theobjections it was sought to remove, yet at the same time, a newobjection arose, which will 'be understood from the following-dien theengine is running at a high speed, and it is attempted to turn a.pivoted member inte an oi'. channel, such as 33, considerable rosistance is encountered, and esaer this the case when no by-pass val 35,is employed, and also when the is almost closed and a large amount oamener power is being transmitted from the member 21 to the member 80.In fact, when op erating an automobile, the resistance tothis turningaction might be encountered at a critical moment, and the eliicieney ofthe clutch Afor practical usesigreatly impaired. Accordingly, thisinvention was designed to, and does, remove the above objections, aswill be clear from the ollowingz-By ,iproviding the sliding member 40,as just stated, it may readily be brought into and removed fromthechannel 33 with a minimum amount of power, because it will be metwith a minimum of resistance, owing to the fact that it is rmlysupported by the casing 21; and further, vby providing the valve 35 andhaving it open and close at the right times, the'said channel 33 may befirst closed partially or enti-rely by the sliding abutments 40 andlaterfthe valves 35 may be closed with a turning movement withoutencountering any substantial resistance at all. Accordingly, in thissaid invention, when the sliding abutments 40 are withdrawn from thechannel 33, as illustrated in Fig. 3, they'do not cause any churning ofthe oil or fluid at all, and yet they can be readily forced into saidfluid or oil when the engine is running at top-most speed with 'the sameease that they could be forced into said fluid when the engine isrunning at a. very low speed, all as will be now clear.

` That is to say, by operating the sleeve 51,

backward and forward over the sleeve 18, the connection 50 will turn thebell crank members 48 and 46 and through the connections d5, 44, 42 and41, the members 40 will be reciprocated into and out oi the channel 33,and at the .same time, since the valves 85 are mounted upon the pivots47 of the bell cranks, they will be likewise turned in synchronism withthe movements of the said abutlnents 40. That is to say, the said valves35 will beopen so long as the members 40 are encountering any seriousresistance and will be closed only after the said members have reachedtheir extreme closing position. However, such motion could be readilyprovided, and it" comes well within the limits oi' this invention.

It willbe understood, of course, from the said patent above, that as themember 21 re-V volves around the member 30, the abutments are rotatedkontheir axes through fthe gears 28, 29 and 27, so that even though thesliding abutments ll() extend entirely across the channel 33, yet theywill enter the cutaway portions GO of the said abutments at the propertime, and will therefore, pass the same.

Should the abutments l0 be partially or entirely withdrawn from thechannel 33, the turning ol the rotary alnitments 25, through ythe meansjust described, will con# tinus as betere, and therefore, it makesnodifference to the operation of this portion of the clutch whether theabutments 40 extend into the channel 33 or not.

^ It is further obvious that for small installations, the valves 35 maybe entirely done away with, or if desired, they may be disconnected fromthe links 50 or from the bell' cranks 48 and permanentl closed.

In the modification shown in ig. 5, instead of the sliding abutments 40,I have provided cylindrical abutments 61, which constantly span thechannel 33, and which pass the rotary abutments 25 in a manner similarto the rlgid abutments 29 ,in the said this modification and thestructure disclosed patent above. The main difference between in saidpatent, is that in this case the valves 35 may be connected with thesliding sleeve 51, as illustrated above, and at the same time the linkmotion there employed, including the lever 44, may be connected directlywith the pivot 65 of said cylindrical abutment 61 and partially turn thesame so as to cause a greater or less leakage past said valves andthrough their cut-away lportions 66, all

as will be clear from the drawings.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction, as well as the=arrangement of parts without depart-V ingfrom the spirit of my invention, and therefore, I do not wish to belimited to the above disclosures, except as may be required by theclaims.

What I claim is :f-e

1. In a fluid clutch, the combination of a driving member; a drivenmember; a fluid passage between said members; a rotary abutment carriedby one of said -members adapted to project into and close said passage;a movable abutment carried b the other of said members adapted to e somoved as to permit a greater or less leak: age of fluid; a by-passcoacting with said abutments; a valve controlling said by-pass;

and connections' for simultaneously operating said movable abutment andvalve, substantially as described.

2. In a fiuid clutch, the combination of a driving member; a drivenmember; a fluid passage between said members; a rotary abutment providedwith a cut-away portion A ried by ably -mit a greater or less leakage offluid; connections for rotating said first named abutment to permit saidmovable abutment to automatically pass .the same; a byass coacting with-said abutments; a va ve controlling said by-pass; and, manuallycontrolled connections for operating said mov` able abutment and valve,substantially as described.` l

3. In a fluid clutch, the combination of a driving member; a drivenmember; a fiuid chamber between said members; a rotary abutment having a,cut-away ortion carried by one of said members an adapted to close saidchamber; a sliding abutment carried by the other of said members adaptedto also close said chamber; means for slidably adjusting said last namedabutment to permit abutment to pass; a by-pass'coacting with saidabutments; and a valve controlling said by-pass, substantially asdescribed.-A

4. In a fluid clutch, the combination of a driving member; a drivenmember; a fluid chamber ybetween said members; a rotary .I

abutment havling a cut-away portion carried by one of said members andadapted'to abutment having a cut-away portion carthe other of saidmembers adapted to also close said chamber; means for slidadjusting saidlast named abutment to permit a desired leakage past the same in saidchamber; means for automatically turning said rotary abutment to permitsaid sliding vabutment to pass; a Joy-pass coacting with said abutments;a valve controlling said bypass; and operating said sliding abutment andvalve,y substantially as described. f In testimony whereof I aiiix myv"signature in presence of two Witnesses.

. MILTON A. KETTLER.'

Witnesses :w y

T. AI WnrHnnsrooN,

'It M... I.ARKER.

connections for simultaneously y, y y

